Jim DeMint could make a bigger impact at Heritage than the Senate

As one prominent California conservative activist who knows DeMint was telling me, “It’s not going to be, ‘Here’s our white paper on drones.’ It’s going to be more about ‘Here’s how you should vote.’”

And the money will follow DeMint, who has a strong rep among the conservative grassroots.

DeMint, the Tea Party fave, directed his own leadership PAC called the Senate Conservatives Fund. It spent $5.48 million in the 2010 and 2012 elections, but didn’t have a good record. Jim D’s candidate only won 8 of the 27 primary or general elections it played in.

And according to the folks at the nonpartian Maplight, which analyzes the role of money in politics, the Heritage Foundation PAC’s made $227,000 in independent expenditures in federal races — all in October 2012. PAC’s preferred candidate won in only two of the seven races it played in.

But conservatives feel that Heritage’s profile will skyrocket with the outspoken DeMint on their megaphone — and the money will follow.

Courtesy of Maplight, here’s a breakdown of those races:

Data: MapLight analysis of independent expenditures from the Heritage Foundation’s PAC in the 2012 election cycle.

Race

Achieved Desired Election Result?

Candidate

Opposing $

Supporting $

GrandTotal

Ill. – 8th

L. Tammy Duckworth (D)

$85,289

Joe Walsh (R)

$23,639

Ill. – 8th Total

NO

$108,928

Penn. – 12th

Mark Critz (D)

$27,058

Keith Rothfus (R)

$17,165

Penn. – 12th Total

YES

$44,223

N.Y. – 24th

Daniel BenjaminMaffei (D)

$26,083

Ann Marie Buerkle (R)

$16,190

N.Y. – 24th Total

NO

$42,273

President

Barack Obama (D)

$15,446

President Total

NO

$15,446

Wisc. – 8th

James RichardWall Jr. (D)

$3,650

Reid Ribble (R)

$3,650

Wisc. – 8th Total

YES

$7,300

Ohio – Senate

Sherrod Brown (D)

$5,342

Ohio – Senate Total

NO

$5,342

Penn. – Senate

Robert P. Casey Jr. (D)

$3,912

Penn. – Senate Total

NO

$3,912

Grand Total

$166,781

$60,645

$227,426

METHODOLOGY: MapLight analysis of independent expenditures made by Heritage Action for America in support of or opposition to federal candidates from Jan. 1, 2011-Dec. 2, 2012. Source: FEC.gov.If you use MapLight data please cite accordingly.